UNVEILED…… How to develop your COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE And Stay Abreast Of The Game.

Have you noticed that there are thousands of millions applicants in the labour market competing for job slots and a large percent are been injected each year. Also given the current global meltdown; there is no doubt that more people than usual are going to be competing for employment opportunities this year and employers have a large option to choose from.

With the terrain so tough, it is important you learn how to develop your competitive advantage and stay abreast of the game. So in this piece you will learn how to use your IT skills, employability skills, knowledge of your prospective employer and having a plan to secure your dream job and achieve job security.

People pay you for the value you create and the problem you solve for them. The business world is now a stiff competition that employers are no more interested in paying large chunks of money to employees who just do the duty assigned to them but they are ready to pay even any amount for that employee who can increase their competitive edge and make them stay in business.

To succeed in your career, you need to learn to be a problem solver who can use initiative without being told. To develop your competitive advantage you need to:

1. Build your IT skills; we are now in the information age where information is power and a great one at that. You will have an edge if you know how to use the computer and not just the basic Microsoft word but the more you know the better. Imagine, if you are vast on the internet, it saves you time to get things done and make you give informed decisions compared to someone who gives suggestions that are already outdated. Know that you are in the age where an information today may be outdated by tomorrow or next and which if implemented, may lead to disaster. Therefore, you need to keep abreast of things. Taking courses and certifications in the IT industry will make you have a huge advantage over your peers which will give you a flip in securing your dream job. Another avenue to have a competitive edge is also to develop your employability skills.

2. Develop your Employability skills; the whole bulk of job seeking is determined by how well you communicate and relate with people. The decision to employ you or not starts from the first day you go to a company to ask if they have a vacant position. To ensure that you are qualified for employability; there is need for you to develop your communication skills, your interpersonal skills (how you relate with people), your skill to work under pressure and your ability to work with a team. You need to increase your ability to make things happen.

To ensure that you secure your dream job it is necessary to show your employer “what you can deliver when the chips are down”.

3. Have a Plan; having a goal and planning the achievement of the goal will save you the stress of seeking for a job and will hasten your chance of getting your dream job. Know what you want in the short and long term and develop a game plan to achieve them. Know your role and understand your strengths and weaknesses and how you can use it as an opportunity or reduce the threats in securing your dream job. This will prepare you in handling your prospective employer when applying for a job or in the course of an interview. Act only when it is appropriate, don’t use all your energy on irrelevant things and leverage on the relevant events. Having a plan will shorten and lessen your burden and time in securing your dream job.

4. Have Knowledge about prospective Employers business; employers are out to employ hands that can move the company forward. Applying for a job or going to an interview without any knowledge about the company, their challenges, strengths and weakness and offering to work for them is an indication that you have nothing to offer them and this may make you lose the job. There is need for you to have adequate knowledge about the organization; their staff strengths, customers, market share, their most prominent problem and offer to help them solve this problems.

From the research you have made. It is sure to make them open the front door to you in getting your dream job.



This highly guarded secret of developing your competitive advantage will make you irresistible and will guarantee you get your dream job. It is also important that you package your experience and expertise in an irresistible killer resume and ensure that you secure your dream job after getting it.

The Awful Truth Revealed…. 10 Reasons why you may Never Get A Job.

1. Badly prepared Curriculum vitae: Majority of fresh graduates in the labour market believe that writing their curriculum vitae (CV) and sending it out to potential employers is all that is required to land a job. The real purpose of your CV is not to get the job. It’s to be selected for the short list of people that the employer wants to interview. This decision is made in less than ten seconds and not by the hiring manager; it is usually an Administrative Assistant who looks at the submissions and it takes him/her at least 5 seconds to do that.

Sentences in application letters like “I wish to apply for a vacant position in your organization and I promise to give my best if given the chance” end up in the trash immediately.


2. Bad Attitude: Employers or human resources are faced with so many “headaches” to keep the company going that they are not interested in teaching “Graduates” how to behave. A lot of job seekers have lost the opportunities of employment as a result of their attitudes and a large percentage of people lost this opportunity in the first day of going to the company! No matter your aptitude, if your attitude is not right, then you don’t get the job.



3. Lack of good communication skills: If you have what it takes to get the job and you are unable to verbally communicate appropriately or with good and correct grammatical expressions you may sure lose your employment chance.

4. Lack of Adequate Knowledge about the Company: Employers are out to employ hands that can move the company forward. Going to an interview without any knowledge about the company, their challenges or their strengths and offering that you wish to work for them is an indication that you have nothing to offer them and this make you lose the job.


5. Lack of Knowledge about Job description: There are so many job seekers who apply for jobs they know nothing about. It is of no use applying for a vacancy you know nothing about.


6. Lack of Confidence: Many job seekers lose their confidence when they are faced with interview panel and this gives them out. Learn to make eye contact. Speak and act with confidence. Not having a level of confidence that the employer find irresistible may make you lose that job.

7. Dressing to kill: Employers watch out for your dressing. It is used to judge your first appearance. Being over dressed or putting on clothes that cause distractions send a message of unserious ness to them.


8. Not changing what you are selling: Job hunting is like selling and you the job seeker are the product. If there has been no demand for the product (you) and you still stick to it without studying what is in demand in the job market and then change whatever you are selling, you are likely to wait for job a long time.


9. Not setting the pace: Traditional job search of submitting your CV and cover letter, and then passively waiting for a call inviting you for an interview is a way to get passed out for employment. Lack of follow up contacts with Hiring Managers, follow up of interview results or updated
“Hidden job markets” deter your dream job.

10. Lack of Punctuality: Not getting to the interview venue on time or strolling away before the interview are things prospective employers take note of and don’t find pleasing in their prospective employees.

10 SECRETS EMPLOYERS ARE PASSIONATELY SEEKING IN THEIR EMPLOYEES.

Every company is looking for the employee who can give something of value to improve the organization; they have room for the man who has a plan of action which is to the advantage of that company. In this article you will discover ten things employers are passionately seeking in their employees and which they are ready to pay generously for. Secrets to be discussed includes; investments, customer relations, competitive advantage, competitive strategy, marketing strategy, profit upgrade, project management, sources of finance, branding and cost reduction. Hopefully, after reading this article; you will discover the 10 things you should offer your prospective employer to secure your dream job and to achieve job security.


SECRET 1: Investments: Business owners are always out to use their profits to generate more funds for the business. Apart from ploughing back funds to expand and run the business; they are also out to diversify to other areas of the economy and they are ready to pay the person that can make them achieve this successfully. Having this investment knowledge is sure to land you a space in your dream job.

SECRET 2: Customer Relations: Blue chip companies pay millions of dollars to outsource, to help manage their customer care centre. For any company to survive, it needs to be able to meet up with the demands and requirements of its customers. By this, it means that the company needs to have a viable customer service management system. Creating this system for them at a reduced cost is a sure way to make yourself indispensable by your employer.

SECRET 3: Competitive Strategy: With the high level of technological advancement and the constant change in the economy, companies look ahead and develop long term strategies to meet the changing conditions in their industries.
The task of selecting an overall company strategy for long run survival and growth is a task that employers are ready to pay high price for to achieve.

SECRET 4: Competitive Advantage: The process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the Organisations goals and capabilities and placing them in a position of acceptance in the market is known as competitive advantage. If you have the skill or method to achieve this, you can be sure of securing your dream job even when there is no vacancy.

SECRET 5: Marketing Strategy: Companies pay huge amount of money to advertise and reach their target audience. The blood of any business includes the marketing aspect of the business. It is not the quality of service that companies give, but the quality of service that the customers perceive that make them come back. Having a marketing plan that can generate larger share of the market is a sure way of ensuring that you land your dream job the first day you apply.

SECRET 6: Profit Upgrade: Devising a system to double, triple or even quadruple the profit of any organization will guarantee that you start as a top level management in your dream job.

SECRET 7: Project Management: Only the best can survive in today’s demanding corporate world. The highly competitive business terrain demands that top multinationals and international corporations hire the very best creative and highly trained professionals with multiple competencies that can drive their Organisations forward and ahead of the competitors.
Whatever profession you might be, be it sales, management, marketing, accounting or the media; your ability to judiciously plan and execute goals assigned to you within limited deadlines and with proper use of resources, will give you the flip needed to succeed in your career.

SECRET 8: Sources of Finance: Whether it is to run, expand or diversify into another business; Organisations at one point in time need funds to execute this project. Your ability to provide information or package a system to help them get this needed fund is a way to get in through the front door of your dream job.

SECRET 9: Branding: With the corporate world of today, company branding have become a must in penetrating into the market. Your ability to make them achieve this task and see positive results is a skill they are not ready to do away with.

SECRET 10: Cost Reduction: As much as organizations need people to help them increase their profit; they are also constantly interested in people who can help reduce their cost to achieve the same level of quality or more and they are also ready to appreciate this person graciously.

Now that you know the ten secrets that will make you irresistible and will guarantee you get your dream job. It is paramount you package your offer to them in an irresistible killer curriculum vitae that generate cash…. Virtually overnight and know the ten reasons why you may never get a job and avoid them like a plague.

PATTERNS OF AN EXTRAORDINARY CAREER

Your career is a field of pursuit of consecutive progressive achievement especially in public, professional or business life. To build your dream career there are traits and combination of your strengths that must intersect; your core competence, passion and opportunity must intersect to create your sweet spot.



Passion

Competency

Opportunity

· Passion: a very strong feeling or drive for a believe or action.

· Opportunity: a possibility done to a favorable combination of circumstances.

· Core Competency: the quality of being adequate or well qualified physically and intellectually.

To enhance your career and achieve this sweet spot, you must develop the following:

1. Self Awareness: you must show awareness of your own values motivations and emotions.
· Understand your strengths and weakness; do a SWOT analysis of yourself.
· Understand the values and the lens through which you view the world. “ understand the true intent of people”
· Learn to regulate yourself; your judgments are made from a list of underlying values and beliefs.

2. Competitive Advantage: There are over 4million applicants in the labour market and a large percent are been injected each year. Also given the current downsizing in the nation’s banking industry, there is no doubt that more people than usual are going to be competing for employment opportunities this year and employers have a large option to chose from.
With the terrain so tough, it is a case of the survival of the fittest. It is your ability to be...

· 1 in a million
· 1 of the few chosen
· The chosen one.
That determines your success.

People pay you for the value you create and the problem you solve for them. The business world is now a stiff competition that employers are no more interested in paying large chunks of money to employees who just do the duty assigned to them but they are ready to pay even any amount for that employee who can increase their competitive edge and make them stay in business.

To succeed in your career, you need to learn to be a problem solver who can use initiative without being told. To develop your competitive advantage you need to:

a. Build your IT skills; we are now in the information age where information is power and a great one at that. You will have an edge if you know how to use the computer and not just the basic Microsoft word but the more you know the better. Imagine, if you are vast on the internet, it saves you time to get things done and make you give informed decisions compared to someone who gives suggestions that are already outdated. Know that you are in the age where new information today may be outdated by tomorrow or next and which if implemented, may lead to disaster. Therefore, you need to keep abreast of things.

b. Develop your Employability skills; there is need for you to develop your communication skills, your interpersonal skills (how you relate with people), your skill to work under pressure and your ability to work with a team. You need to increase your ability to make things happen.

The whole bulk of job seeking is determined by how well you communicate and relate with people. The decision to employ you or not starts from the first day you go to a company to ask if they have a vacant position or not.

To ensure that you are ahead of the game in your career it is necessary to show your employer “what you can deliver when the chips are down”.

3. Preparedness for change: To sky rocket your career development you need to recognize changes in circumstances promptly and adjust plans and activities accordingly.
· Watch out for the small signs.
· Be willing to accept shifting priorities.
· Make appropriate changes in manageable chunks.

4. Multitasking Ability: To stay abreast in your career
· You need to address multiple demands without losing focus or energy.
· Focus on the important things.
· Understand your energy circles; know that today’s workplace do not focus on what’s merely important but what’s worldly important.

5. Quality Delivery: The quality of job you deliver would paint a vivid picture of who you really are. Therefore, it is important you crave a niche for yourself by deploying the right methodology in advancing and accomplishing your task.

6. Consistent and Reliable performance: Ensure that to achieve a reliable performance you always develop a habit of excellence and be armed with an alternative course of action. Do not be afraid to negotiate. Be sure to understand how the achievement of an objective affects your overall goal (Business, personal. Spiritual etc).

7. Leverage on your Strengths: Recognise your own strengths and use alternative strategies to minimize the impact of your limitations. Learn to always put your best foot forward. Lead with strengths at all times.

8. Prioritize: Plan your task to be accomplished and focus on executing the task with the most results first. Focus your energy on accomplishing the tasks that will yield the overall best results.

9. Optimize Resource utilization: Make best use of available resources and proactively seek new sources of support.

10. Reflect on experiences: Reflect regularly on your experiences and use it to inform future actions.

Utilizing this traits to the optimum level ensure that you achieve your sweet spot and lead to a rapid career advancement. To know more about how to maximize this traits visit: http:// d-spels.blogspot.com.